(Editorial Note: Although FTW has received
many reports pertaining to the likely nature of future terrorist
attacks we have refrained from publishing them because we
either felt that they were unsubstantiated or risked causing
unnecessary alarm. This story is the first such story that
we have felt it essential to report. We view the anthrax
outbreaks of recent weeks as a distracting form of psychological
warfare, which do not pose an immediate risk to any large
numbers of people.)

FTW, October 19, 2001, 1400 PDT - Credible
information received by FTW from a source long connected
to intelligence operations, and circumstantially supported
by recent but little publicized events - including government
alerts - indicates that a number of hand-held surface-to-air
missiles, perhaps as many as 35, may have been smuggled
into the U.S. from Canada.

Events in the last two days at U.S.
and French nuclear generating plants lend credibility to
the sourceÕs claims.

On October 15 Michael Riconosciuto, a computer
programmer connected by government documents to CIA and
FBI intelligence operations involving Promis software, made
contact with a radio talk show host who has requested anonymity.
Riconosciuto passed on a warning that as many as 35 Russian-made
surface to air missiles had been smuggled across the Canadian
border into the U.S.
The movement of the missiles reportedly occurred within
the last week to ten days. According to the broadcaster
the missiles were part of a two-phase attack on the United
States that began with
the WorldTradeCenter attacks
on September 11. The second phase of the plan was to shoot
down large aircraft over population centers and/or "high
value" targets.

Although Riconosciuto is currently an inmate
in the federal penitentiary at Allenwood,
PA - serving a sentence
on a drug conviction - he has repeatedly been the source
of highly accurate information as documented in a number
of press stories, even while in prison. His status as a
credible intelligence source, both for U.S.
and foreign agencies was confirmed last year in an investigation
by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) national security
staff. During that investigation, members of the RCMP -
tracking developments around an intelligence software program
known as Promis - visited FTW editor Michael Ruppert and
acknowledged that Riconosciuto was a key player with highly
sensitive intelligence knowledge. However, both the RCMP
investigators and Ruppert shared the opinion that RiconosciutoÕs
information was not always 100% accurate. (To read a fuller
description on the RCMP/Promis investigation please visit

In a recent and unrelated development,
United States
government agencies, including the Department of Justice
and the FBI, acknowledged in FOX News reports on October
17, that they had stopped using Promis. FTW has confirmed
that the FBI now admits use of the software. These sudden
reversals came after years of denials - including court
testimony - from those agencies that they had ever used
the software. These confirmations support longstanding claims
made by Riconosciuto.

On the evening of October 17, as confirmed
by brief but unpublicized stories by the Associated Press
and in direct interviews by FTW, the Three Mile Island (TMI)
nuclear plant outside of Harrisburg,
PA was put on a state
of high alert. At the same time the FAA ordered an immediate
and unexplained shutdown of the Harrisburg
airport located just a few miles from the plant.

On October 19, an AP report disclosed that
France
had suddenly set up a radar system in northwest France
to "sweep the skies above EuropeÕs
largest nuclear reprocessing plant as a precaution against
airborne suicide attacks." Taken at its face the AP story
seems to indicate preparations for a different kind of attack.
However, it raises questions about why military and civilian
radar systems currently in operation would not detect an
aircraft moving off course toward the plant and might possibly
be a cover to disguise other kinds of preparations. There
are too many operational variables to determine, one way
or another, if the French move is connected to events at
TMI.

Harrisburg
airport spokesperson, Scott Miller, told FTW that he had
no knowledge of why the FAA ordered the shutdown of the
Harrisburg airport
on Wednesday night. "We were just following orders from
the FAA."

FAA Eastern Regional spokesperson Jim Peters
told FTW, "Even if I knew, IÕd have to refer you to the
FBI.

What is clear is that nuclear facilities
have become a very clear priority for defensive precautions
since September 11.

There are 103 nuclear power plants in the
United States.
The French facility at La Hague is a reprocessing facility
that handles highly radioactive nuclear waste from reactors
in Europe and Asia,
according to the AP story. France
is almost totally dependent on nuclear energy.

Dave Carl, speaking for the TMI plantÕs
owner, Exelon Nuclear, told FTW, "The events of Wednesday
night began when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
notified TMI that a security threat had been made against
the plant. The good news was that nothing happened. We are
taking extra security measures." Carl declined to state
whether there was a known direct connection between events
at TMI and the Harrisburg
airport. According to Carl, TMI is currently undergoing
a scheduled refueling and maintenance period. The plant
is currently shut down and scheduled for a restart in early
November.

Riconosciuto allegedly told the talk show
host who forwarded the information that he has been warning
the FBI of terrorist-related surface-to-air missile attacks
for months and that the FBI has attempted to silence him.
The talk show host told FTW that Riconosciuto fears direct
reprisals for having issued a warning to the media.